Quote from: Jack_M on December 29, 2013, 01:29:46 AM
I had top surgery with Dr Bowman in Vancouver, Canada on Dec 17th.

11th day update:

I'm amazed with the scarring.  It's so pink and fine already!  I'm really hoping for good results here.  No redness at all, just a very, light pink.  I have Gilbert's Syndrome (recently diagnosed) so I haven't taken any pictures because I don't want people getting a hold of my pictures and attributing it to the surgeon.  My left side isn't so bad now but my right side is still quite swollen and my chest is yellow.  I got jaundiced after the surgery and didn't cope well with the blood loss (because of the Gilbert's Syndrome).  My right side got the worst of it so the bruising is bad.  I don't see if affecting the results too badly but I think it's affecting me psychologically because I keep expecting pain that doesn't come just because it looks sore!  Lol.

My left side - I can raise my arm to about 3/4 range.  Right side only 1/2 with it only slightly above shoulder line before I feel pulling. The worst part for me is actually under the scar on the right side where the worst of the bruising is.  It feels tight and it's annoying but it's getting better day by day.

My nipples are looking amazing.  There's still some scabbing and bleeding associated with that but once the scabbing is over and done with I anticipate good results.  There's no stretching there and I can barely see where the stitches were now.  I keep them covered with gauze and tape to try to prevent more bleeding so the scabs can form and fall at their own rate.

The top right scar has a more open part to the scar, likely because of the swelling and that could well affect scarring, but not worrying too much about that too be honest.  I'm not going to be going top half naked too much anyway as I don't actually swim!  I CAN swim but because of bad ears I'm not allowed to get my ears wet so swimming is a rarity.  Otherwise the more top half naked I'll likely get is what you can see while wearing a dobok that can get pulled open a bit during sparring and that's it.

My scars aren't like Dr. G's.  They follow the pec line more so they go across and then up the way around the pecs.  Once the swelling goes down I'll be able to see what I'm working with pec wise and then when I'm allowed, hit the gym to improve that!  Lol.

I have a compression vest that I'm going to keep wearing for 6 weeks but I'm used to it now and it's not as bad as a binder.

So far so good!

I'm going to start scar guard soon, there's a couple of areas I want to close up a little better before I touch them with scar guard.  As for when you use scar therapy: as soon as the wound is closed.  Don't use it on open wound!  Watch what you get too.  Something that says it works on stretch marks as well as new scars is a BS product.  Scar therapy should be specific to age of scar.  What will work on a new scar won't work on an old keloid scar for example.  Bio oil isn't the best IMO.  It's better for stretch marks and fine lines like that.  The mechanisms of how they say it works are a bit weird too.  It's more vitamin based but the skin is a barrier for that so really all it's doing is keeping the scar hydrated, which is good for the scar, but I don't see it doing much for the actual healing asides from that.  I used it for about 2 months on a surgery scar on my back years ago and it did nothing, but it did admittedly help with stretch marks. A silicone based gel has much better documented results and targeted specifically to new surgical scars and recommended by plastic surgeons.  It wasn't available for a long time because the application wasn't so great and you had to keep applying it all day but it's been improved since.  It does rely on you being quite vigilant with it though.  So 3-4 times a day would be optimum but at least twice.

Jeatyn, I suggest you put on the binder, sleep on your back and follow the advice!  If you're noticing issues now, follow the advice now before it gets worse :-/.  As you are healing your skin will conform to how it is post surgery.  If you're sleeping on one side and pulling on that.  You'll be affecting the healing process because your skin will think this is the normal way it should be and the scar will heal with that stretched skin idea rather than how it should be.  That's why compression post surgery is important too.  It helps the scar form in the optimum way where everything is kept together and in a tight fashion and not pulled by uncompressed sleeping on your side which could lead to puckering as the scar doesn't know where the norm is meant to be, and a potentially wider, stretched scar rather than fine.

Hey I just came across your post about your surgery with Dr Bowman,  I'm going for my consultation with him on Thursday and should be going for surgery within three weeks. I know you said you didn't want to share pics but was wondering if you'd mind sharing with me your experience with him and how you feel about your chest now that your over a year since surgery.  I'm super excited and a little nervous so just looking for as much info as possible.

Quote from: kaidenhendricks89 on May 26, 2015, 09:31:55 AM
Hey I just came across your post about your surgery with Dr Bowman,  I'm going for my consultation with him on Thursday and should be going for surgery within three weeks. I know you said you didn't want to share pics but was wondering if you'd mind sharing with me your experience with him and how you feel about your chest now that your over a year since surgery.  I'm super excited and a little nervous so just looking for as much info as possible.

Kaiden,

Might be better to send that as a message. He may get a notification if he has a message, but probably isn't checking a thread he posted in so long ago.

Hi all!

I haven't posted here in a million years, but I am now almost 9 months postop DI with Garramone.  My scars unfortunately got more hypertrophic despite semi-consistent silicone tape use.  The good news is that the swelling under my right armpit went down a lot over the months. 

Quick question, though: Did anyone have an area of pain/tenderness in their armpit that stuck around for a long time after surgery?  I have a sore spot that a local surgeon isn't quite sure of the cause (leftover glandular tissue, a lymph node that's irritated, etc).

Anyway, I hope you are all well!

Quote from: amd on May 28, 2015, 06:41:42 PM
Quick question, though: Did anyone have an area of pain/tenderness in their armpit that stuck around for a long time after surgery?  I have a sore spot that a local surgeon isn't quite sure of the cause (leftover glandular tissue, a lymph node that's irritated, etc).

My left side has more swelling and numbness than the right side, and the left pectoral sometimes feels like it's being peeled off my body.  I'm five weeks post-op.  I ended up seeing my surgeon today because the pain became too much.

If I were you, I'd talk to my GP about that sore spot.  Yeah, it could be a gland or lymph node that's angry.  It could also be a lump of necrotic adipose that the body is trying to break down.  Either way, a GP would have a better idea of how to diagnose and treat it.

Sorry for opening a topic for this, I somehow didnt notice this thread. Thanks Mariah2014 for merging!

A few hours post-op



5-days post-op


More here http://imgur.com/a/wU1zy
PS. the two extra plasters you see are there because I requested the surgeon to remove two moles.

Looks great dude but we already have a thread for this, the Top Surgery Recovery Thread. It's pinned at the top of the page.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,156574.0.html <-- there's the link. It's for every to post pics as they're recovering.

Topics have been merged. Thanks
Mariah

Quote from: KamTheMan on June 01, 2015, 09:52:11 AM
Looks great dude but we already have a thread for this, the Top Surgery Recovery Thread. It's pinned at the top of the page.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,156574.0.html <-- there's the link. It's for every to post pics as they're recovering.

Hello everyone!

Long time lurker but first time posting.  Thought I'd share my surgery results and recovery with everyone here.

I'm currently a bit over 4 months post-op and had peri(non-circum, aka 'keyhole') with Dr. Grubnik in South Africa.  Everything was done through government/public care so I paid almost nothing.  It was all done through excision, no lipo, with dissolvable stitches and drains exiting from the nipple incision rather than under my armpits.  Drains were removed after a full week and I suffered no complications whatsoever at any time.  They removed about 150g of tissue.
Recovery was really easy and quick for me overall.  Very little pain. 

Presently my scar-care consists of taping my incisions with paper tape and a daily massage for about 20mins with a standard arnica-based massage oil.  Technically supposed to do it twice a day but I rarely find the time for that.
Unfortunately I've lost complete sensation in the nipples themselves, with some areas that surround it--particularly two spots extending from the nipple outwards toward the side/armpit--remaining numb or only partially sensitive.  This was despite leaving the pedicle intact, which as I understand is somewhat rare.  I don't really mind though, as I could never stand nipple or breast touching pre-op and never got to enjoy those sensations.

So far I'm very happy with my results and am only going back in July so they can complete the nipple reduction they were originally going to do in tandem with the surgery but was unable to.

Here's me one week post-op


And at roughly 4 months


You can view the entire album here:
(NSFW--Contains pre-op boobies!) http://imgur.com/a/WODvB

Happy to answer any of your questions!

8 Days Post-op, it looks amazing so far, Im very content with the results

Wow, guys, thanks so much for posting pictures!  Everyone is looking great.  It seems to me that more and more surgeons are improving their techniques.

clayir, you didn't say who your surgeon was?  The angle of the incisions does not remind me of any surgeons' work that I know, so I am curious.  I am thinking either someone who is not as known, or someone outside the U.S.?  Or maybe it was just your body shape, that encouraged such slants for a quality outcome.  It looks good to me.

P.S. Xandr, thanks for being so thorough about your surgery and recovery.  You look great!

Saw my surgeon on Thursday. I'm 7 weeks post op and he said I'm good to go back to my usual routine. Allowed to work out my chest and stuff now. He did say though that the stuff that I thought was swelling, is probably some left over tissue. He said it's probably still a bit of swelling but some tissue also. He said there's still plenty of time for my chest to heal and the tissues to settle. He said that my true results will be clear within a year and that if after a year I'm still uncomfortable with the bit of tissue left over then he can remove it in the office for free. He's an awesome guy, he talked for a minute about his gay brother and how gay marriage doesn't hurt anyone and how he feels about transgender stuff (he supports it). He had an excellent bedside manner and I'm thankful that I'm lucky to have had my surgery covered by insurance. I'm going to work on building up my pec muscles and see if that makes my chest look a little better then, and makes the excess tissue go away. Either way, I'm glad he offered to suck out the excess tissue for free.

Quote from: Bimmer Guy on June 04, 2015, 10:52:00 PM

clayir, you didn't say who your surgeon was?  The angle of the incisions does not remind me of any surgeons' work that I know, so I am curious.  I am thinking either someone who is not as known, or someone outside the U.S.?  Or maybe it was just your body shape, that encouraged such slants for a quality outcome.  It looks good to me.

Hey, yeah, sorry about that. I forgot to add. My surgeon was Ms Chaterine Milroy, she's a very highly respected plastic surgeon in London, she's one of the two surgeons people get sent to from the Gender Clinic and she also does this on the NHS.

Welp, guess who's six weeks out and has an infection?  This git.  I pulled what I thought was a scab from my right side Monday night.  Tuesday morning I woke up to a puddle of yellow and pink gunk in my bed.  Had to wash everything.

Dr N took a culture and 'scripted out some hardcore antibiotics for me.  Swear to God, I opened up the sulfa vial and the tablets were wearing leather.  The ciprofloxacin cracked a whip at me.  So twice a day, every day until Tuesday, my housemate and/or her girlfriend will be shoving a wick into the hole.  And it HURTS.  Dr N 'scripted out some pain pills but they do sod all when these two start poking stuff into my body.  The antibiotics make me feel horrible.  I go back on Tuesday morning for a recheck.

This is seven days after surgery with Dr Medalie.





Sorry for the bad quality at the moment, I'll try to get better pictures later. I'm withholding judgement at the moment, since my results didn't follow the usual path. At my post-op, the doctor (a different one) thought I had a small hematoma or whatever it was, that side is swollen more for some reason. So we pulled the left drain out and we're leaving the right one in a little longer, just to prevent problems down the road.

Personally, my right side has been the more swollen and difficult of the two. My left arm was pretty much good to go right after surgery, so it's been doing all the work. It would be really great if the right side would learn to cooperate...other than that, it's not too bad. It'll look a lot better when everything's settled in I think.

I also have to wear the vest another ten days (which doesn't hurt as much as a binder, since there's not really much there to squish, so to speak...) but I've been cleared to shower pretty much how I want.

Quote from: JayDawg on January 14, 2015, 08:23:14 AM
4 weeks post-op. Dr. Parker, Athens, GA, USA

5 months post-op follow-up picture.



I've gotten some sun, but I put SPF 50 on the scars and also cover them with a dog leash when I sunbathe to further protect them from UV. I'm enjoying the heck out of my flat (and now fuzzy) chest

-Jay

Quote from: JandJ on May 21, 2015, 08:58:38 AM
Okay Gentelmen -

Here is my one month pic.  I still think I was left with too much skin, but I'm still happy to be able to wear whatever shirt I want to wear!  My surgeon feels that massage does more for scar reduction than any product on the market.  I will admit that the massage has done a LOT to reduce things - but I am also using a scar gel AND strips!  I will not know what worked best - but as long as it works, I don't think I will really care

And here's my 2 month pic

Nearly two months post-op with Dr Nahai, who has been watching my minor staph infection like a hawk [hence the bandage on my right side].  There's a little more scarring on the right side because I've been moving around too much.  I'm kicking back in my recliner with my shirt pulled over my head, like I'm about to do porn or something.  Because damn it, this surgery has just increased my confidence and overall feelings of worth.  I feel sexy, damn it.

This is me 9 days post op. So far I'm very happy with the results. . . Still in quite a bit of pain but it's getting less as the days go on. My surgery was done by Dr Bowman in Vancouver.

Had D.I with Dr.Fischer in Timonium MD ($8450)

I'm 10 days post op and I'm very pleased with the results. I'll take a picture of my nips when the surgical tape around them falls off.

After

Been offline for a while. Congratulations on your surgery! I'm getting ready to book my flights now. Since I'm using miles I don't want to wait too long, even though surgery isn't until December. Hope you're feeling great soon!